Poetry, Shmoetry
by Thalia05
Summary: FINISHED! Draco finds a journal of poems from a fellow Hogwarts student about unreturned love. He plans to embarass the author and the crush until he finds out who each is... songpoem fic
1. The Discovery

Disclaimer: Not my people, just my plot. All J.K. Rowlings characters, not mine, don't hurt me!!!!!  
  
Chapter 1  
The Discovery  
  
Draco Malfoy readjusted in the old, wooden seat. After working for an hour in the library on his History of Magic essay; his brain was mush, his hand was cramped and his rear was sore.  
  
"Two rolls of parchment, two full rolls of parchment!? Who cares about the goblin rebellion of 1468 anyway?!"  
  
Draco mumbled to himself while stretching his legs under the table.  
  
"One more battle ought to fill that space up. Where's that book on Frundgar the Flatulent?"  
  
Scooting out of his chair Draco trudged to the back corner of the dusty library looking for the last piece of information he needed. He never made it though. He did however, manage to trip and fall flat on his face before he even made it past the 'E's. Moaning and cursing under his breath, the golden-haired Slytherin laboriously pulled himself from the ground and turned to see what had so ungraciously tripped him.  
  
"A stupid book. It figures."  
  
Draco retrieved the book with the intent of chucking it deep into the dense library when he noticed something. This book looked nothing like the others in the library; cumbersome leviathans with their musty, thick pages and cracking leather covers. This book was small, had crisp new paper inside and was pink. With flowers. Little purple flowers. Draco thought to himself confusedly, _No wizard in his right mind would write a book with little purple flowers on the cover. What gives?_ Upon opening the curious manuscript Draco found not a book, but a journal. It was practically a diary filled with poem upon poems. He randomly selected a page and with his most disdainful and contemptuous voice read the dainty print aloud to himself:  
  
Here in the dark

I stand before you

Knowing, this is my chance

to show you my heart

This is the start

I have so much to say

and I'm hoping

that your arms are open

don't turn away

I want you near me

Love me

I'm what you see

Love me

I'm counting on you

Love me

and we'll make it through.

"Awww, the wittle girl is in wuv, but he doesn't wuv her back. How pathetic!"  
  
Draco headed towards the nearest trash can, but was struck mid-stride by an evil scheming plot. An sly grin spread across Draco's face as he turned a 180 back to his table, grand ideas of massive embarrassment and extraordinary humiliating already running through his wicked little head.  
  
"Oh, the thrill of others agony, muahahha!"  
  
A/N : Thank you for reading!!!!! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, sorry if it is short, but good things to come, I promise. The 'poem' is excerpts from the song "Here's Where I Stand" from the Camp soundtrack. Please review so I know how I'm doing. : )  
  
Thalia05 


	2. Internal Struggles

A/N: Thanx to all who reviewed- I'm glad you like my portrayal of Draco, hope he doesn't disappoint later on! He won't get too mushy, I'm not a big fan of fluff. Keep reading and reviewing, luv you all!!!!!  
  
Disclaimer: Not my people, just my plot. I'm am poor and shall remain poor. All credit must go to the amazing J.K. Rowling for her wonderful characters.  
  
Chapter 2 Internal Struggles  
  
Late the next night, Draco lay awake struggling to fall asleep. After tossing and turning in his voluminous bed, he decided a bit of light reading might quiet his mind. Reaching to his bedside stand looking for a book, his hand brushed the small journal.  
  
_Why not? I might get a clue as to who this mystery girl and her lover are._  
  
Sniggering quietly as he though of his evil plans, Draco turned on the small desk lamp at his side and flipped through the pages, finding a poem that looked like it had been pieced together from cut-up song lyrics.  
  
"Hmm, creative. But I bet it's from some stupid chick CD."  
  
A mumbled groan from the next bed silenced him. Re-adjusting his lamp to prevent waking his neighbors, Draco began to read:  
  
Here is something beautiful/

now smash it

How do you write about that?

When you just ignore me

I feel a choke hold coming on.

What do you do?

Everything you say to me is dumb/

at least it's stupid

Spiteful confrontations

dreaming of

Mean shit I wish I'd said to you

another confession

I never said no

make more of it than it was

I break your concentration

Does he know where he is?/

I doubt it.

Desperate need to be together

lie here in

your

arms

holding his hands, strong hands

too much to ask you

save me from myself.  
  
"Whoa. She has some serious emotional dysfunction's to work through"

"Mgrbbflbmm...."

_Oops. Stupid light sleepers. That poem is so bizarre. It is definitely not from some chick CD though. The lyrics are so piece-y and random, sounds like she is half regretful for not chewing him out and half regretful for not kissing him instead. Can't she decide whether she loves him or hates him? And if he annoys her so much, why the hell does she even bother crushing on him? I have to find out who this girl is!  
_  
Draco turned the lamp off and lay back in his bed, his mind racing even faster than ever. Why did her poem make sense to him? He pondered this and the fact that he found girls who talked back and didn't put up with his shit attractive until 3am when he finally dozed off, still clutching the pink and purple journal.  
  
Four hours later, Draco was rudely awakened by a fellow Slytherin hollering,

"Hey Malfoy! What's with the diary?"

Tired and confused, Draco looked blearily at the origin of the disturbing noise and was about to scathingly reply, _"What diary, dickhead?!"_ when he realized he was still clutching the mystery girls journal protectively to his chest. Stumbling through excuses Draco managed to stutter,  
  
"Oh, uh...I, uh, I found it. I just, um... I just didn't want any of you primeval lunkheads to get your greasy hands on it before I, um, well...before...I was done, uh, blackmailing, yeah! Blackmailing, uh, whoever, whoever wrote.. it."  
  
"Oh, ok."  
  
The thick Slytherin didn't quite understand but knew if Draco Malfoy was plotting something, it would be worth waiting for.  
  
"So whose is it?"  
  
"I'm, not quite sure. Yet. I'm working on that, now scram so I can work on, on blackmailing!"  
  
Draco hoped the vague threat would be enough to stop the questioning He was very relieved when the boy nodded and left for breakfast in the Great Hall. He let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding and hurriedly stuffed the journal unceremoniously under his mattress and proceeded to quickly get ready.  
  
All through his classes that day, Draco had problems concentrating. His mind constantly drifted back to the journal. In Potions, usually his best class, Draco managed to accidentally add the diced beetle into his cauldron before the mandragorn juice causing his potion to turn a sickly green and emit large amounts of purple smoke. In History of Magic he was so busy sorting his thoughts he missed al the notes on the Wizard's Rehabilitation Act of 1839. His train of thoughts remained scattered through the whole day.  
  
_Why did I act so guilty this morning? I wasn't lying about the blackmail thing, it's what I planned to do, wait. When did it become past tense? I'm still going to humiliate that lovesick loser. Aren't I? I mean, just because I think the girl is a good poet doesn't mean I'm in love with her or anything. I don't even know who the girl is for Merlin's sake. Why do I even care?  
  
_Draco battled with himself internally all through his classes and through till dinnertime when a grumbling stomach interrupted him. As he walked by the Gryffndor table he made sure to smirk and comment to Ron Weasley;  
  
"Oy, Weasel! You'd better enjoy your food. Dinner here must be a dream come true compared to the slop you have to share around at home!"  
  
Draco was surprised when Ginny retaliated to the comment while Harry held Ron back.  
  
"Oh shut up ferret. Don't you have anything better to do? Like walk off the top of the North Tower?"  
  
Draco snorted instead of replying as he was quite speechless, and to his surprise, a touch impressed too. He still managed a haughty look as he turned to join his own table until Ginny, quite pleased with herself, turned to her own table to make an announcement.  
  
"Oh, by the way, has anyone seen my journal? I seem to have lost it. It's pink. Pink with little purple flowers."  
  
Draco's jaw dropped.  
  
A/N: Ooh, I wonder what will happen to him next? Thanx for reading and especially for reviewing! Oh, and the song lyric poem is random lyrics from the Harvey Danger CD, "Where Have All the Merrymaker's Gone?" I have the next chapter written so I should have another update in a couple days.  
  
Thalia05


	3. A Different Perspective

Disclaimer: We know this is all J.K. Rowlings, the pitiful plot is mine but the characters are most obviously hers. Come on people, do you think I'm stupid enough to claim her stuff? Who do you think I am? Like I said, her people, my plot.  
  
A/N: Thanx again to all who reviewed, except Gen. Patton because she is mean. : P  
  
Chapter 3 A Different Perspective  
  
Lascivious grace, in whom all ill well shows,

Kill me with spites, yet we must not be foes.  
  
An hour later in a discrete corner of the library, Draco still couldn't comprehend that the journal belonged to Ginny Weasley. He tried to sort through his thoughts, debating whether this new information changed anything or everything. _Is it possible that I, Draco Lucius Malfoy III, esteemed member of the aristocratic, widely known and widely feared Malfoy family, thought, for a brief moment, that a poor, naive, practically worthless Weasley family member was an excellent poet, intelligent, creative, and perhaps a love interest? No, couldn't be._ But these revelations stewed in Draco's brain. Trying to get his mind off the crimson- haired sorceress, he lazily looked over the myriad of books around him. Something caught his eye in the gap between Ghouls Through the Centuries and Practical Uses of Hexes though, a glint of red hair. Tensing, Draco prepared to dart as adrenaline rushed through his system. Instead he very slowly, and very quietly leaned toward the gap. As he peered through to the other side he questioned whether his heart was pumping loud enough for people across the hallway to hear.  
Ginny looked determinedly for a book on retrieval spells, oblivious to the pair of bright gray eyes spying behind her. While her mind considered the irony of having to search for a book of finding spells, Draco's thoughts went more along the lines of: _She has really pretty hair, it kind of glistens. And wow, she's got a nice body too. I wonder if she works out because she has one fine as---Ahem!_ Draco immediately pulled back from the peephole at the realization of what he had been thinking. His back pressed against a wall of books, Draco mentally screamed at himself. _What **am** I thinking?! How can I be attracted to her?_ Well Draco, like the many of the rest of us who aren't sociopaths, had a little voice in the back of his head that told him exactly what he didn't want to admit. _**You like her because she isn't afraid of you.** NO, I don't like her,_ Draco's thoughts echoed in his head as he tried to prove to himself he wasn't enamored. **_Yes you do; because she's smart, and she's witty, and she can out insult you. Admit it, you think she's sexy when she talks back._** Draco silenced the voice when a more important question crossed his mind. _I wonder who her crush is? He's probably some dopey hero from Gryffindor that thinks brawn is more important than brains. It better not be Pothead Potter!! Why do I even care? Let the little tramp run to her golden hero, it's not like she'll ever come to me._ This final thought brought reality crashing back down on Draco. The reality of his crush, of her beauty, and of the impossible chance of her ever liking him back. Draco pulled away from the shelf he had been leaning on and discreetly retreated to his dormitory, sullen, irritated, and full of self pity. Once there he pulled the journal from under his mattress and, resisting the urge to chuck it in the trash for the second time, he collapsed onto his bed and flipped through the pages, looking for a new poem; a poem that would reveal Ginny's perfect man so he could finally go through with the evil plans he had from the start. He had to have someone to channel his anger at. One poem caught his interest.  
  
We bicker, we fight, we hate and spite

but I get a rush when you're around.

It would be an interesting pairing,

Me and my worthy adversary.  
  
_Bicker and fight? That explains why she can't decide whether to punch or kiss the guy. She likes him for the same reason I like her, he pisses her off._ This revelation left Draco confused, amazed at the similarities between him and Ginny, and emotionally drained. All these emotions plus the strains of the day left Draco extremely drowsy. He drifted off to sleep slowly, one thought echoing in his mind. _Who is her worthy adversary?_  
  
A/N: Ooh, the plot thickens. More Ginny and Draco interaction next chapter, I promise. Sorry if the plot is slow, I know it's obvious, but still good right? oh, the opening two lines is the heroic couplet from Shakespeare's Sonnet 40, I thought it was fitting. thanx for reading, please review! I'll give you a cookie?


	4. A Worthy Adversary

Disclaimer: Blah, Blah, Blah, Not mine, Blah, Blah, Blah, etc. etc. (can you tell I got tired of doing these?)  
  
Chapter 4: A Worthy Adversary  
  
Wanted and adored by attractive women

Bountiful selection at your discretion

I know I'm diving into my own destruction.  
  
So why do we choose the boys that are naughty?

I don't fit in, so why do you want me?

And I know I can't tame you...but I just keep trying  
  
Why do the good girls always want the bad boys?  
  
Draco rolled over in his bed drearily. He had been so exhausted the night before that he had slept like a rock, but upon awakening everything he had been fretting about poured over him like a landslide. "Ugh! Why must fate torture me so?! Hey, I could be a poet myself." Shouts and laughter from outside the window were sufficient enough to remind Draco it was the weekend, a fact he had forgotten in his current turmoil. Maybe a trip to Hogsmeade will clear my mind. Rousing himself and dressing laboriously, Draco dragged himself out to the Main Hall where other late-rising students were preparing for a trip to the village.

"Hi Draco! Oh, you look just awful! Can I help?"

Draco's already sullen face twisted into a disgusted grimace as Pansy Parkinson appeared beside him, simpering, whimpering, and flirting obnoxiously.

"Here, let me take your arm and help you, Oh! My, what big muscled you have! You know, I haven't seen you around much the past few days. Is anything wrong?"

Her pouting lip and pitiful eyes might have been endearing, on a skunk that is.

"Maybe I was just avoiding you." Draco grumbled under his breath at the sad display of affection.

"What was that, Drakie?" _Crap, she heard, um... a quick lie would be..._

"I said, would you look at that beautiful view!" Draco exclaimed, wrenching his arm from her grip to point out the window into foliage dying before winter came. _She really doesn't take hints well but I have to be somewhat civil. She's a real bitch when she's pissed off._ _And since when am I 'Drakie'? Ugh, gag me!_ If this statement didn't quite make Draco gag, the next one did.

"Drakie? Would you like to take me to Hogsmeade?" Draco listed all the reasons to say no quietly in his head. _1. no because you're ugly 2. no because you annoy me 3. no because I'd rather go with a dead flobberworm and 4. no because Ginny might see...What! No! No number 4, I only have 3 reasons! 3! Ugly, annoying, dead flobberworm, Ginny has nothing to do with it!_ Draco, despite the goings on his head, managed a sickly smile and politely declined with, "No, I'm meeting other people" before walking in the opposite direction and mentally berating himself all the way to Hogsmeade.

Draco wandered the streets of the tiny village looking for a place to drown his sorrows. Honeydukes looked a likely place. What better way to feel sorry for yourself than to gorge on sugary sweets? (A/N: I know its how girls deal so I figured it might apply to emotionally distraught guys too. Why not?) After loading up on sugar quills, chocolate frogs and pepper imps. Draco trudged away to find a secluded corner in which to stuff his face. He walked distractedly down the street until his meandering was interrupted by running into the back of another person. As a reflex, Draco snidely commented, "Watch where you're going lowlife" before he looked to see who he was addressing.

"You're the on that ran into me moron!" replied Ginny Weasley. (A/N: What a coincidence!) Draco faltered. Draco Malfoy the bitter, Gryffindor-hating, spoiled Slytherin wanted to reply back but Draco Malfoy the confused, lonely, fan-of-Ginny's-poetry wanted to apologize and prove he was a changed man. Guess who won.

"Well excuse me for exercising my right to walk where you're standing!"

The battle of words had begun.

"Hey ferret-face, there's a whole road here, picking a different cobblestone to curse with your presence wouldn't kill you, but I'd pity the stone."

"So sorry, but your clothes were so old I thought they were part of the street." Draco replied, feigning innocence.

"Oh, that was low Malfoy, but I can deal with old clothes as long as my hair doesn't look like I fell in a lard bucket. You could start a restaurant with all the bacon fat in yours."

"Ah, yes. But I could start the restaurant by myself. I wouldn't need the Golden Trio protecting me from the big, bad world. Do you really need three baby-sitters?"

"Hey, maybe you could borrow them. You act like enough of a child. Oh, but they charge extra for diaper changes."

"Hey I can afford extras unlike you, what have you got in that bag? String, air and a paperclip? Don't strain yourself, that money's got to last you all year."

"At least my money is earned honestly! You're dad is only powerful because he has to pay off everyone beneath him so they take him seriously. I mean, come on. What's with the ponytail? Six year old girls wear ponytails!"

Draco didn't like people insulting his family, no matter who they were.

"Shut up Weaslette! You can't beat me! I am always going to be better than you, better, smarter, richer, and more respected, because my family name is actually worth something. I will be better than you and there is nothing you can ever do to change that!"

Ginny stumbled at the cruelty of this prod. The other insults she had heard before; but no one had ever stooped that low to insult her family honor to her face.

"I, I really hate you sometimes," was all she could get out without letting tears fall. Draco saw her glistening eyes thought and knew he had crossed the line. He backed off and curiously asked,

"only sometimes?"

Ginny paused, contemplating a good response.

"Yeah, the rest of the time I only just hate you instead of really hating you. Or times like this when I hate you so much I can barely describe it."

"Nice save Weaslette."

Ginny turned to walk away and said quietly, dangerously:

"Don't call me Weaslette, ferret."

Draco couldn't let her leave yet, not this mad at him and definitely not with the last word. Before she had gone three steps Draco offered,

"Fine, I won't call you Weaslette if you don't call me ferret." Ginny turned, slowly considering, and a smug grin crossed her face.

"Ok, but what about the amazing bouncing ferret?" Draco snapped.

"You **really** enjoy **_pissing_** me off don't you!" Ginny turned to leave again.

"Well, it's always nice to have a worthy adversary." and she walked off without a backward glance. Draco stared after the retreating figure, her final words echoing in his head.

**_"A worthy adversary"_**  
  
A/N: TaaDaah! Ooh, you guys owe me! Two updates in one day!! But it was a fun battle of wits to write and hopefully fun to read too! Please review because it gives me that warm fuzzy feeling inside. Oh, and the poem is a few lyrics from the No Doubt song "Bathwater" off the Return of Saturn cd.


	5. Irrational Thoughts

Disclaimer: I disclaim (I'm so tired of these things!!!)  
  
Chapter 5

Lost: Rational Thought  
  
Disbelief. Utter and complete disbelief. That was the extent of Draco Malfoy's brain capacity for the next 10 minutes. He stood, rooted to the spot, and afraid to think what 'worthy adversary' might mean for fear that his brain would explode. Slowly he began filtering through the tirade of questions and denials and jubilations and guilt and disgust and euphoria and more questions rampaging in his head until he came to one indecisive thought. _**She likes me?**_ Draco didn't want to believe it because it meant so many things, good and bad. _Why couldn't she have picked some other jerk to be her bloody worthy adversary!? Why me, damnit!?_ Draco suddenly realized that his vegetable-like state of the past quarter hour had started to worry the bystanders. Collecting his candy quickly from where it had fallen during the scuffle, Draco hurried away from the busy village and didn't stop until he was safe back at Hogwarts.

The school seemed so much more quiet and peaceful during Hogsmeade weekends, and it wasn't just the lack of hormonal pre-teens. Everything took on a languid air. Students had slept in, procrastinated on homework, and gone on a mini vacation to escape the stresses of school. Draco immediately picked up on the mood of the castle and slowly untensed the muscles he hadn't realized were taut. This caused a further calming effect that led to semi rational thought, something he hadn't experienced almost all week. _It's ok, I can think through this. Ginny is not here, I can think and figure out what to do. Ok, first step. I am going to the Great Hall. I will get hot chocolate and rationally, reasonably, sort through this. There. A real, calm, rational thought. I can do this, baby steps. Baby steps.__   
  
_This psychologically healthy train of thought might have continued if the first person he saw upon entering the Great Hall hadn't been Ginny Weasley. _What the hell!!!! Do I have some subconscious tracking device on this girl or is my luck really that shitty? I hope it's shitty luck, not that that's much better. She must have been so stressed out by our verbal bashing session that she wanted to come back too. Figures._ Draco stealthily sneaked around the Gryffindor table, not wanting to provoke this crimson lioness into attacking again. His stealth was wasted however because at the moment, Ginny was deeply involved in writing something and listening very intently to her magical discman. (A/N: yes, it's magical. reg. electronics don't work there, remember! J.K. should really write Hogwarts. A History after she's finished the series) Ginny was tuning out everything around her, a fact Draco sheepishly noticed when Ginny started singing along in a soft, fairly pretty, voice. He edged closer, not wanting to be seen but also wanting to hear.  
  
_**If you only knew **_

_**The words I said were true **_

_**They've been inside my head awhile **_

_**I'm sorry they missed you  
**_  
Draco stealthily sneaked back around the table Ginny was sitting at so he could see her face. He watched her as she bobbed her head along to the music, her nose crinkled in concentration on the project in front of her. A small smile creeped over Draco's face.  
  
_**And if you only know **_

_**The words you want to hear **_

_**You'll never know my heart **_

_**You'll never know my tears!**_  
  
As the smile grew more noticeable on Draco's face, he became more aware of other people in the Hall. There weren't too many, most were still at Hogsmeade, but how would it look? A Malfoy smiling, not smirking, but smiling, and at a Weasley!?  
  
_**Words will often change **_

_**But what I said remains **_

_**It's spun inside my head awhile **_

_**And it's sounding all the same  
**_  
Draco asked a passing elf for hot cocoa and sat himself at the table directly behind her. He could still hear her singing and catch a glimpse of her swaying form in the corner of his eye. He listened to her sing along and sipped his cocoa quietly.  
  
**_I never thought I'd see, see myself this way _**

**_Running out of words, with nothing left _**

**_I've mixed and matched these words _**

**_a thousand times i_****_nside my head, _**

**_Inside my heart there's never been _**

**_Inside my heart there's never been _**

**_More to say!_**  
  
As Draco listened to her sultry voice the rational thinking completely left him. _Do I like her? Why? No, I know why. How? I don't know how, I blame that damn journal. I was completely happy in my ignorance you know! Ok, so do I tell her? Tell her what, that I like her? That I stole her journal and haven't given it back even though she's searching for it because I wanted to read her stupid, sappy love poems? Ugh. Well I'm going to have to do something, eventually.  
  
**I'm speechless **_

_**I'm speechless **_

_**It never comes out right **_

_**No, It never comes out right **_

_**I'm speechless **_

_**I'm speechless **_

_**In my heart there's never been more to say**_  
  
As Ginny's voice faded into the background, Draco turned and watched her swaying hips as she walked away, discman in one hand, a stack of papers and Spell-o-Tape in the other. _I wonder what she was working on?_ After letting a fair distance grow between them, Draco stood and followed the enticing form. Draco's question was answered when he passed the first bulletin board. One flyer stated simply:

**Lost: A pink and purple journal of personal value  
****If found, please contact Ginny Weasley**

_She's posted signs about the journal? You'd think she would be worried that whoever found it would read it. well I guess she's counting on the vague description of the guy and also the massive improbability anyone would even consider me as a candidate. Hell, it took me four days and a huge hint to figure it out and they were about me!_ Draco grabbed the flyer from the wall and proceeded to his dormitory. Pulling the pink journal from its hiding place under his mattress, he contemplated its usefulness. Draco spent the rest of the afternoon drafting, writing, and rewriting. When he was satisfied he went down to the owlery to borrow a school owl, attached a short note, and returned to his room; making final preparations for the night.  
  
A/N: sorry for the sucky ending but I couldn't give too much away, especially since I have no idea what I'm going to do! Any suggestions you guys have as to how he can anonymously woo Ginny would be fantastic!!! Thanx again to all my faithful reviewers, keep reading and reviewing because it makes my happy. Even the mean ones make me happy (sorta), cuz they tell me what to fix! oh, I almost forgot, the song Ginny was singing is "Speechless" by Snax. Luv you all!!!!!


	6. Who's There?

Disclaimer: I disclaim (hooray for never having to do this again!)  
  
**Chapter 6 Who's there?**  
  
I'm afraid of your rejection

I cherish a challenge

I'm afraid you'll lose your temper

I cherish danger in your eyes

I'm afraid you disregard me

I cherish looking unobserved

I'm afraid of icy silence

I cherish you left speechless

I'm afraid that you've seduced me

I cherish your smug grin  
  
Draco glanced up at the clock in his room as he gathered the last of the supplies her would need. _10:52. One hour, 8 minutes and counting._ He slipped quietly from his room under the invisibility cloak he had demanded after learning of Harry Scarhead's. The-boy-who-wouldn't-die shouldn't have anything a Malfoy didn't have first, it was an abomination.

Draco often walked around the castle under the cloak. After curfew, people showed different sides of themselves that they hid during the day. Draco had seen well-behaved, teacher's pets sneaking to the kitchen for midnight snacks. He had seen two younger students secretly meet for a snogging session one week and then fighting and bickering the next. He regularly saw Peeves setting the next days pranks and thus avoided many nasty situations. Tonight however, Draco was not wandering uselessly. He quickly strode to his destination ignoring the nighttime activities of others. At one point in his trek Draco unknowingly passed the entrance to the Gryffindor common room.

On the other side of the now snoring Fat Lady, Ginny Weasley waited in a squashy armchair for twelve o'clock to roll around. For the tenth time that night she reread the mysterious note she had received earlier that day.  
  
**Ginny: I found your journal. Come get it in the North Tower tonight at midnight. W.A.  
**  
The brevity and anonymity of the note still puzzled her. _Why return if after curfew in an all but deserted part of the castle? Are they trying to protect themselves? Whose initials are those? Why are they trying to hide their identity?_ Questions such as these collected endlessly in Ginny's mind. As much as the questions bothered though, reuniting with her journal was more important at the moment. The mysteriousness could even be a perk. If the person didn't want to be recognized then they couldn't criticize or mock her poetry without revealing themselves. Ginny looked at the clock. _11:50, I should leave if I want to make it to the tower on time.  
_

Heaving herself out of the chair, Ginny tip-toed through the empty common room and exited into the hallway. After navigating the labyrinth- like staircases and halls Ginny finally made it to the North Tower with two minutes to spare. Turning the final corner Ginny stopped dead in her tracks, completely dumbfounded by the sight that greeted her.

Hundreds of flickering candles covered every inch of cold stone floor except for a single narrow path that was coated in red rose petals. More roses grew on vines that creeped up each wall turning the rocky tower into a romantic garden area. Ginny picked her way along the path while staring amazedly at her surroundings. _Who would take the time and effort to do this? I thought I was just getting my journal back, I didn't know I was going to be seduced!_ Realizing that someone, some guy, had set his up wither to woo her or mock her, Ginny turned quickly on the spot, suspiciously investigating dark corners and dense foliage. After several moments looking she let out a tentative,

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

Her question was met with silence but a sudden flare of light further down the rose-strewn path drew her attention. The lights that had been ignited were actually more candles, floating this time, and perfectly arranged in a bright halo above her pink and purple journal. The tome itself was supported at waist level by a weave of un-thorned rose branches and verdant ivy.

Ginny, awed and bewildered, grasped her poems and shrieked in fright when the supportive foliage receded to blend with the other surrounding flora. Recovering quickly, Ginny eyed her journal, a dark, enchanting purple rose was thrust between two pages, acting as a beautiful bookmark. After turning to the marked pages and removing the lightly scented flower, she found a poem. This would not be unusual since it was found in a book of poetry, but these versed were not her own. A smooth flowing text in emerald green ink had replaced her own cramped writing.  
  
**Those lips that love's own hand did make **

**Breathed forth the sound that said 'I hate' **

**To me that languished for her sake; **

**But when she saw my woeful state, **

**Straight in her heart did mercy come, **

**Chiding that tongue that ever sweet **

**Was used in giving gentle doom, **

**And taught it thus anew to greet: **

**'I hate' she altered with an end **

**That followed it as gentle day **

**Doth follow night who, like a fiend **

**From heaven to hell is flown away**

** 'I hate' from hate away she threw,**

** And saved my life, saying 'not you.'  
  
I would that you could utter those sweet words this night so I'd not wane to nothingness from the want of you. W.A.  
  
** Ginny read an reread the sonnet and note and still unable to comprehend the motives or identity or her feelings of this W.A., she stared. She stared at the page with trembling hands, overwhelmed with the beauty of the poem, of her surroundings, the romantic ambiance and the mystery of her invisible poet.

A sudden radiating warmth she had not felt from the candles startled her, but not nearly as much as the sensation of an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to nothingness until her lips met anothers' she couldn't see. Ginny pulled back in surprise and studied the empty air in front of her. She whispered into the dark night, "Who are you?" A breeze shifted her strawberry locks as a voice replied, "Your Worthy Adversary," and revealed a head of glistening blonde, two stormy eyes and eventually the slim, muscular form of Draco Malfoy himself. Draco discarded the cloak and held forth a full-bloomed and dewy rose. Ginny's mind reeled.

Standing in front of her was the man she had secretly wanted, written about, stared at, fantasized about and known in her heart that he would never want her back. Yet here he was, his pale skin illuminated by a myriad of candles and his hand clutching a rose for her, for **her**. Ginny did the only thing her scattered mind could come up with. Taking a step closer to him and seeing him lean in for another kiss, Ginny slapped him full across the face. The look he gave her was priceless.

"What the hell do you think you're doing Draco?!?!"

Ginny screamed at the confused and stinging Slytherin.

"Holy shit Ginny! I thought I was seducing you but apparently I only succeeded in pissing you off! I should be asking you what the hell **you're** doing!"

Draco stared back at the infuriated girl, fear and horror slowly overtaking his mind. _Was I wrong? Does she really hate me?_

"I don't know what I'm doing, I don't know what you're doing. None of this makes sense! You're supposed to hate me! You're not supposed to have read my journal, you're not supposed to have figured any of this out, You're not supposed to know I like you! And you're definitely not supposed to freaking try to seduce me in the middle of the freakin night in the freaking North Tower!"

Ginny tried not to scream after her onslaught of anger. Draco felt relief at her admittance to likeing him but also anger and annoyance at her confusing statements. His eye's turned from smoky gray to shining silver as his temper escalated to match hers.

"Then what the hell am I **supposed** to do?!? I did hate you. I didn't choose to find your stupid journal! In fact, I was going to blackmail you at first but you just **had** to be so damn hot and bitchy that I fell for you and then you told me I was your stupid worthy adversary and I figured it out from one of your stupid poems that I was the one you had a stupid freaking crush on and I realized that I had been in denial and that I really like you back and I though it would be romantic if I gave you back your journal like this and then you would know that I freakin like you back and we could snog, end of story! **Happy now!?!?** God, you are so freakin infuriating woman! What's your problem?!?!"

Ginny had backed against one of the walls during his tirade trying to protect herself from his anger when the whole story clicked. After Draco finished and stood panting for breath waiting for a reasonable explanation Ginny managed a small, shocked,

"Oh."

Draco almost collapsed where he stood. His face took on such a pained expression that Ginny burst into tears.

"I'm sorry! I never thought that you would like me back! I was so convinced that you hated me that I knew I would never have a chance but now you're here and you like me and you did all this and it's so romantic and you shouldn't have because I don't deserve it and I feel like such a stupid bitch and now you must really hate me and I don't know what to do and I'm so confused and-"

Ginny was cut of suddenly by Draco placing two fingers gently on her lips.

"Shut up weaslette."

He softly said while looking into her eyes. Pulling her close he leaned in to kiss her once again but was briefly interrupted when Ginny, relieved and back to her usual self but smiling and amazed still, retorted softly,

"You first, ferret"

before hooking a hand around his neck and pulling him in for a deep kiss.

.

.  
  
A/N: Hooray!!! The End. Sorry if it's not quite as fluffy as other romantic ones but I said before, not a huge fan of fluff. So the sonnet is Shakespeare's Sonnet 145 and the opening poem is based on the Alanis Morisette song, "Sympathetic Character." Thank you all so much for reading this, and especially those who reviewed.Hugs and cookies to: Sophia P'Hawkins, Miah The Storm Wolf, K.S. the Singer, Fire 331, Speed Creek, Gen. Patton, moonbunny77, fairyqueen, Mithila, bobby and special thanks to my very faithful reviewers Sharap'n Princess, Purus.fluere, Cinder 2004, and my very first reviewer ever, LythTaeraneth. I luv you all! : )


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